You might already know this, but that’s kind of the whole point of the story in the Bible. Based on what I’ve read, their trip should have, ironically, only taken 11 days. The problem was that most of them lacked faith that God could help them do what he told them to do, so instead God made them wander the wilderness so that the younger generation would learn from the additional trials of their parents that God provides a way.
Also, “40” is supposedly a number that’s meant to signify “long enough to get the job done”, which is why it rains 40 days and nights, why Jesus is in the desert for 40 days…
So they just kept following that one guy who has an abysmal sense of direction but who is also freakishly good at convincing everyone that he knows what he is doing. Then he died of old age and someone just went “hey look, the exit sign is right there”
You might already know this, but that’s kind of the whole point of the story in the Bible. Based on what I’ve read, their trip should have, ironically, only taken 11 days. The problem was that most of them lacked faith that God could help them do what he told them to do, so instead God made them wander the wilderness so that the younger generation would learn from the additional trials of their parents that God provides a way.
Also, “40” is supposedly a number that’s meant to signify “long enough to get the job done”, which is why it rains 40 days and nights, why Jesus is in the desert for 40 days…
So they just kept following that one guy who has an abysmal sense of direction but who is also freakishly good at convincing everyone that he knows what he is doing. Then he died of old age and someone just went “hey look, the exit sign is right there”